[OPEN] Standing on the cliff face, highest fall you'll ever grace

[totallytrustworthy]

Date & Time: various; post zombie madness
Location: Places
Characters: Chloe Frazer and YOU-- or at least we all hope it's you in there
Summary: last boarding call for the S.S. Disaster of the Century (viva la revolution)
Warnings: copious amounts of Robin Hooditis

 

A: Cafeteria

[She doesn't much care for the idea of borrowing anything when supplies are scarce. Doesn't like the thought that this is-- for the moment-- all they've got left. But plans are plans, and change is necessary, and nothing in this world (or any other for that matter) comes without a cost. If they mean to hole themselves up long enough for negotiations to leave them all in a better state than the one they're in right now, then spare packets of food and water are more necessity than nicety.

Still, doesn't make the pill go down any easier; Chloe spends more time hovering near the kitchens than what's appropriate for anyone that isn't Gordon Ramsay. Might be worth looking into, honestly.]

B: Corridors; farther away from housing

[And the damage isn't as noticeable as it ought to be, (years of abandonment means the base already looks a half step away from collapsing like a house of cards) but considering she'd rather not experience what it's like getting sucked out into the endless vacuum that is our known universe any time soon, Chloe's quick to lend a hand wherever it's needed amongst the more battle scarred sections of the station. Sure, she's exhausted-- looks the part, sporting a good layer of salt and dust that's been there since the start of the undead fiasco-- but the sooner they get the base back into (relatively) good shape, the sooner she'll feel secure enough to sleep like a proper human being.

If it takes hammering at a few panels for that to be a reality, count her in.]

C: Housing

[Supplies seen to for the moment, holes patched up and wiring duct taped together, Chloe's just about done. The past week hasn't been kind, the past year hasn't stopped digging in under her skin: she's spent. Walks like one of the staggering dead they'd just spent all they've got in them to kill off, on a mission to just get through that last bloody section of the station to hibernate so hard they'll have to hire a prince to wake her up.

So it's safe to say she's not really watching where she's going, arms full up with pilfered foodstuffs and scrap-- and it's also safe to say she won't appreciate any incoming distractions. Or collisions.]



---



[ooc: Use whatever format you like-- and if none of these prompts suit you, feel free to create one of your own! Chloe's out and about and prone to dozing off in a few inappropriate spots for impromptu naps; it's a terrible habit someone should do something about it.]
 

Comments

[totallytrustworthy]

Only because you are. [which, by the way, is an appropriate segue.] I'm not here for a snack.

--well, technically I am. Just not one for myself.

[crossbearing]

Okay.

( Interesting. )

I'm guessing this snack isn't exactly abiding by uh, regulations. ( "Regulations" that they observe at the behest of a skeleton crew as they chase their tails trying to make it so this place is survivable and get Exsilium back.

Things like zombies make that a little difficult. ) Who are we shopping for?

[totallytrustworthy]

Would you believe me if I said every Transport that's currently in need? [Technically true. Also technically not. But you don't start pitching a job by talking about how you're in it to make rent. Mundane things just don't fit into the picture.]

[crossbearing]

Considering you shot at me the first time you met me, I could go either way on just how concerned you are about each and every soul on this rock.

( It's not that she's doubtful, it's just... no, people always have some self-interest. Even when she took up the Bat in No Man's Land, there was something in it for her: the legend, the way thugs scattered at the sight of that symbol, instead of jostling past the Huntress and catcalling her.

There's always something in it, even if it's vengeance, or justice. Even if it's blood. )

[totallytrustworthy]

Fair enough, but this-- all this-- the zombies, the bombing, the death of an entire bloody world: you can't tell me that sits right with you.

They're killing off the lot of us for the sake of waging their war. And they're losing.

You can't tell me that sits well with you either.

[crossbearing]

Hey. ( Sharp, holding up her hand, because you can't and the words and the truth in all of it strikes her nerves. She figured maybe something was up, but this is bigger than what she'd suspected. )

Don't ever make the mistake of thinking that what's going down here sits right with me. I can't pin down what I'm helping with unless you say it.

( This is a beef against the Initiative, and it's justified, but that's more than she expected. )

oh no typo up there whatever we're pretending I'm not running on 0 sleep :')

[totallytrustworthy]

[She stops at that, dipping her chin with a light, easy scoff. Don't worry, Helena, she's not about to ask you to slit your own throat.

Literally, anyway. Technically, on the other hand...]

What I'm saying is I've watched the Initiative drive us all into the bloody ground, and that isn't going to stop so long as we keep taking orders without a say in what goes on.

This, right now, is the only chance we have to get the Initiative to listen. Once they undo all this-- if they undo all this, they'll have no reason to hear us out. Not with the transporter tucked neatly under their arm.

You don't have to help us talk to them, but Christ, darling. We could use it.

I SEE EVERYTHING I SAY NOTHING no really i saw nothing

[crossbearing]

( Okay. This... makes sense. She's never trusted them, whoever the them might be. Gotham cops that send mocking letters to children at the funerals of their families, who have been seen as a threat, the enemy. That had been before she knew what her own family was, but there were still corrupt cops and cruelty, cops that wouldn't have helped Maria Bertinelli because she was Franco's wife and she deserved whatever she got. There was America screwing its people over, cutting off Gotham and abandoning it, there were invasions, there were kings taking territory and draining the south and building up the precious north while Sicily tore itself apart. There was fascism and there was governments creating exactly the environments that allowed her family to flourish in the void, that grew together and fed off each other and then talked about wars on crime.

She watches Chloe, gaze burning through her, picking over the information being presented to her. They'll have no reason to hear us out.

She should tell Barbara. Barbara, whose father is a cop, who went to law school and used to be a senator. Yeah, she should tell Barbara. When did that become her first instinct? )

"Talk"? ( Is that a euphemism? )

[totallytrustworthy]

Talk. [Chloe repeats it, carefully, eyes fixed firmly on Helena's as a sort of guarantee that she's not lying.]

With leverage.

[crossbearing]

( Leverage. That sure was nice and ambiguous. )

You're going to have a Hell of a time securing your leverage. People around here are drinking the kool-aid.

( Out of desperation, out of the need to believe there's something they can do, even if they don't like the Initiative. There are a few names that come to mind, people trying to play with the Initiative, and all that.

Leverage. She really should tell Barbara. )

[totallytrustworthy]

Not really. Late at night most of the tech staff are off duty. One quick, careful job of sneaking into the transporter room while no one's around and-- [Her fingertips curl, flex out away from her palm.] leverage.

From there on we just promise to give it back once they agree to let transports be a part of this war. Not just the fighting, but the actual strategy. God knows enough of us have died for us to deserve that much.

Obviously it's likely going to be a one-way sort of job. Can't imagine anyone will be all that happy about our decision to shuffle the board at a time like this, even if we get what we ask for. So I'm serious, Helena, you don't have to agree to run with us on this one.

[crossbearing]

( There's something comforting and devastating about the fact that someone she barely knows is being more up front with her than hr own team was for the longest time. Sure, she's an asset here, but she was a piece to be moved and manipulated and set against risky odds for Oracle, for Batman when it suited him. Barbara has made admissions and concessions since then, but how many of them were limited to this world, which may as well have zero bearing on their own? If she went back to her own time and remembered jack shit about this world, she'd have remembered Batgirl wasn't dead and then Stephanie's entire story about Leslie and reintroducing herself back to Gotham would have been different to how she told Helena. They'd remember nothing about this place.

Maybe that means Chloe being open with her isn't worth much, either, but it's more than she's gotten for most of her life. Maybe its because they don't know what the Huntress means or what it is to be a Bertinelli. Maybe the only time she can ever be something is when she's been stripped down to nothing. )

They can't fight this war without us. ( Without their manpower, and without their strategy. )

I'm in. ( Oracle will need eyes and ears. Chloe's going to need someone watching her back. ) You'd be surprised by some of the people around here, though. The tech staff might be off duty, but things can get messy fast if anyone gets wind of this.

[totallytrustworthy]

[It's--well, it's surprising, actually. Finding someone willing to sign on without a second thought under the current circumstances isn't all that far-fetched (they're all but dead in the water up here, after all) but Helena's different. Sharper than most. Not idealistic, not the typical freedom fighter sort, just...]

Which is why we'll need all the help we can get to keep us from getting killed two steps into this mess. [Though the thought of someone taking a shot at them isn't likely, a good friend of hers had once warned her that it's best to always have a contingency plan.]

[crossbearing]

I'll be straight with you right now, but there are people from my home world that'll try to make this Hell for you, and I'm not the only Gotham vigilante here. I don't know how well some of them will take to a plan like this. They're a little more naive about authority.

( Something short of scathing, but with judgment enough regardless. Even Stephanie had given the location of a safehouse to Saul Goodman, who she had no doubts was little more than a silver-tongue reptile, and her doubts would only stretch further if she knew the full extent of their affairs. Stephanie bought into what Batman said, even if she had the sharp enough along the edges, now. Batwoman, Batgirl, the former Batgirl... they all had their winning qualities, sure, but the idea of bringing them into the fold or counting on them to want to support a mutiny?

No, this was more like old times. Huntress is the trouble maker and rabble rouser, Huntress is the fire that needs to be stamped out but will leave embers glowing around the edges that keep chewing through until their ridiculous ideas collapse inwards.

Or maybe she's doubting them too much, holding her incredulity too close, but it's not like they have a good track record together, and enough people are depending on the Initiative for any chance of getting home or not going home that it's hard to pick things apart. )

Gotham capes? We have to be tough to survive, and you've gotta be resourceful. Usually you're stubborn to stupidity, but that doesn't mean they're necessarily unintelligent, just that we'll take a beating and keep going. There's no way they'll take this lying down unless they're on side, and they're mostly too self-righteous.

( Also most of them had horrible childhoods. ) Have you got any distractions lined up?

[totallytrustworthy]

See, that's the sort of thing I was afraid of hearing. [And they're not the only ones like that crammed into this factured little moon base.

Chloe presses her back to the wall behind her, feeling the cold metal up with her fingertips like something grounding as she mulls over what they've got planned out so far. Shit, the whole bloody thing's making her anxious. Impatient.] And yeah, sort of. Probably.

--Okay, not really, no.

[crossbearing]

Better you hear it now before the Bats hear about you.

( Her mouth twinges, and then her jaw tightens. )

I can't give you their civilian IDs. ( That crosses a line, cuts too close to home. ) I'll take care of Batwoman, Batgirl and Oracle, the others might be a little more work but I'll pin it down.

( What the Hell is she doing?

How does she distract Oracle? )

[totallytrustworthy]

What, no Batboy? [Bad joke, Chloe. Bad joke.]

[crossbearing]

( Something in Helena's expression turns cold, stern. )

Robins. Those kids are some of the people hurt the worst by Batman's legacy. They aren't a joke.

[totallytrustworthy]

[She sobers up at that, expression evening out somewhat before pressing. Gently.] So what exactly is the deal with this Batman? Because between you and me, darling, he sounds like an asshole.

[crossbearing]

You've got the gist of it figured out.

( A pause. ) Bats are a myth in Gotham, the thing that sends a shiver down thugs' spines and makes them look over their shoulder. The reality is an exclusive family that looks down on anyone who hasn't broached the inner sanctum.

( Not that she's bitter, or anything. )

[totallytrustworthy]

Ohh. [So...mean girl's club. Got it. ] And you think they're going to come after us? Come on, we're talking low end of the criminal spectrum [not as much as you think, Chloe] they've got to have better things to do, right?

[crossbearing]

Low end? Come on. ( Chloe, please. Helena rests one hand on her hip, the other idly gesturing, palm open. ) This is the biggest Transport-organized disturbance since we got up into this tin can. They're gonna be with it or against it, and when there's a high horse to cling to? They'll go for it.

( A beat. ) I mean, you're gonna need leverage, right, to make this work? So what's your leverage? And why aren't you keeping faith in justice and all that kinda good thing? You better have a list of good answers, because they'll be hounding you until they're satisfied, and even then.

( They're never satisfied. )

[totallytrustworthy]

The transporter's our leverage. With staff as low as it is, there isn't enough security to keep it staffed 24/7. All we need to do is slip in during the early hours and lock ourselves in for a little sleepover, yeah?

[And if it sounds easier than what it's likely going to be, it's not because she's not already entertaining the thought: whether or not she wants to openly admit it whilst pitching a deal, though...] And from what I've seen faith and justice is what's led us here. I don't need any more reasoning than that. Not after a year spent watching it all go down in flames.

[crossbearing]

Just the transporter, or are you keeping hold of the staff for-- ( A pause, and she doesn't do air quotes, but the look she gives Chloe is significant, ) negotiations?

( If nothing else, she knows how her family worked.

It makes this more complicated, knowing that Chloe might be using the same kind of tactics.)

Just be ready. They're going to want reasons, justifications. I mean, what about all the fresh faces who haven't seen the flames? They might think the Initiative should have a little slack. ( Rolling her eyes, a little. People are idiots. )

[totallytrustworthy]

No. [Chloe gives a firm shake of her head to emphasize it.] Machinery's simple. Basic. People? People are messy-- and I'm not just talking about hygiene or eating habits. Too much of a gray area for my taste.

It's why we'll do it at night. My partner's got a close eye on the staff; I trust his judgment.

Besides, I can't do anything for the new crowd other than stress the facts. I'm not saying I'm planning on going down with the bloody but-- [She pauses, shrugs.] I'm probably going down with the bloody ship.